The Four Spent the Day Together centers on characters seeking new beginnings, attempting to leave behind drugs or abusive marriages, only to see hope turn into aggression. Kraus frequently uses the phrase "clean slate", rendering it intentionally weary through constant reiteration. Sentences like "He could make a fresh start" and "They chose to begin anew" are scattered across the story. And yet, she seems to be making her individual reinvention, since this presents as a different type of work – documentarian, truly literary. However it reveals itself to be packed with the same dilemmas and approaches as her previous works.
From Unplanned Author to Renowned Book
Kraus started out as an creative who transitioned to writing unintentionally with her 1997 cult classic I Love Dick, which was composed of letters to an unreceptive lover, elevating intimate women's literature from abjection into defiance. She persisted as a writer, but the next trio of engaging and challenging novels did not possess the impact and rawness that the letter form imparted to the tone of I Love Dick. This was not aided by was her position as a nonconformist creator who had evolved into a large-scale low-rent landlord, so there was significant attention on real estate deals. It follows that she now wants to explore new kinds of material, turning outward to other people's stories, at a period in which she states that Trumpian politics makes confessional writing unnecessary.
Several Eras, One Unescapable Past
The Four Spent the Day Together is structured in three parts, covering multiple eras – each trapped by their pasts. There is the narrative about characters Emma and Jasper, based on Kraus's parents, transitioning from the urban environment to the Connecticut countryside. There is the narrative of the author, in the character of a figure named Catt Greene, grappling with the belated success of I Love Dick, the rise of Trump, and her addict husband a man named Paul. And there is the story of the murder of one lost young man by another in a locality long abandoned by progressive politics only a short distance from the protagonist's home in a remote part of Minnesota.
For this reader fond of honed writing of the sort the author herself typically rejects, I was enchanted by the novelistic voice of the initial segment.
Being a reader who appreciates precise prose of the style that Kraus usually avoids, I was won over by the literary tone of the initial part. It possesses a novel degree of detail that makes room for minutiae, like the bucket that the young Catt pries out of frozen water at the start of the story, aided by her adored dad. "I found an ice toy!" she says; "a great plaything", he replies, "the nuanced interpretations of terms tumbling in their mouths like sweet treats". She tells Emma's narrative with inquiry and familiarity. "It seemed to Emma she had entered a dream – not entirely her own."
Disappointment and Disjunction
I was bound to become frustrated when I hoped this new voice could last out the book. The author states here that she resents the pleasure readers like me have gotten from I Love Dick; she's committed to disjunction, to the messy artistic approach she shares with her inspiration writer Kathy Acker, and the blankness and repetitiveness of her earlier works comes back in the middle section. Catt is working on refurbishing multiple decrepit residences in Albuquerque's worst neighbourhoods while moving between Minnesota and LA, unable to aid Paul curb his addiction. She feels helpless as her spouse transitions between low-resource employment as an substance abuse counselor in a society propelled by the anger and fear that powers a political win. A significant portion discusses about Catt being cancelled on Twitter, her professional designation altered from "novelist" to "real estate holder" on Wikipedia. The author still appears to invest excessive emotion about this. In a moment she states that she's investigating the murder so that before leaving Minnesota, "she may grasp something about an America that her social media opponents would fail to comprehend, would overlook entirely".
The Murder Narrative
So then we come to the actual killing – and the eponymous day passed by the deceased with the perpetrator and his friends. Kraus has great source material, and details moment by moment what transpired when Brandon came to see Brittney after encountering her on a platform where she offered adult photos. He sought a sexual encounter but seems affably to have spent the day alongside her friends, mooching around fixing his automobile and covering the cost of food and substances, before being murdered by her romantic interest a man named Micah – a young, mentally ill man who has repeatedly received inpatient care for fits of anger.
Preoccupation and Open Ends
Catt develops an obsession by the story, and I found myself captivated by the way that Kraus's dual urges towards responsible documentation and reckless transgression tussle in this section. However, I would have preferred her to go further into her personal fixations here. The standout figure is the character Brittney, who gains dimension partially because of Catt's identification with her – another bright, bullied girl going off the rails in a struggling, neglected community. Kraus tells us that Catt speaks to Brittney in jail, but she doesn't dramatise these conversations. The whole section feels curiously unresolved, to the point that her narrative ends almost mid-par
